Local Government
Local matters are dealt with by Laois County Council which elects 25 members. For the purpose of elections it is divided into five local electoral: Borris-in-Ossory (6), Emo (4), Lugacurran (4), Mountmellick (4) and Portlaoise (7). Laois historically supported Fianna Fáil party in Irish elections. However in the last local election there was a sharp swing to the opposition Fine Gael party. Laois is in the five seat Laois–Offaly constituency for elections to Dáil Éireann.
| Party | Seats | Change |
| Fine Gael | 12 | + 3 |
| Fianna Fáil | 8 | - 3 |
| Sinn Féin | 1 | = |
| Labour Party | 1 | = |
| Independent | 3 | = |
Read more about this topic: County Laois
Famous quotes containing the words local and/or government:
“Civility, which is a disposition to accommodate and oblige others, is essentially the same in every country; but good breeding, as it is called, which is the manner of exerting that disposition, is different in almost every country, and merely local; and every man of sense imitates and conforms to that local good breeding of the place which he is at.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“Hence, the less government we have, the better,—the fewer laws, and the less confided power. The antidote to this abuse of formal Government, is, the influence of private character, the growth of the Individual; the appearance of the principal to supersede the proxy; the appearance of the wise man, of whom the existing government, is, it must be owned, but a shabby imitation.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)